Fall!

The boys are in 2nd grade.  Yes, it started a month ago and yes I'm just now doing the blog post.  I blame the kitchen remodel (that spilled over into other parts of the house).  It really isn't the kitchen's fault, but we have been busy!

So...the boys are in 2nd grade.  So far, they are loving it!  They both love their teachers and seem to be doing very well.

It was rainy the first day of school, so pictures had to be taken indoors. 

Seth in orange, Noah in red (Noah is still working the goofy smile)

 They wanted Brody to be in one of their pictures.

They were NOT excited about me taking their pictures the first day.  Noah asked in an exasperated tone 'Are we going to have to do this EVERY year, even when we are in college?'.  I told him yes, but when he's in college he probably won't be living with me.  He did not like that answer and said 'Why wouldn't I be living with you?'

Chris has taken the boys to a couple of Hudsonville football games, including homecoming last week!

Seth and Noah wanted to play baseball again this fall.  They passed over both soccer and football...they now say, though, that they want to play football next fall.  This is the first time that they played 'kid pitch'.  The coach pitched the first three innings and then it was kid pitch for the last 3.  Both boys had an opportunity to pitch and they actually weren't too bad.  Their team wasn't very successful, only winning 2 games the whole fall season.   At least they had fun.  I only got pictures from one game.  Oops.

Noah

Seth

A few weeks ago, Noah came home from school VERY excited about something his music teacher told him about.  The middle school is going to put on a production of a musical version of Elf and they were looking for elementary students to be a part of the chorus.  Noah said he wanted to audition, so I immediately signed him up so he couldn't change his mind.  As his audition approached, he was a little nervous and thought about backing out, but decided to go ahead with it.  I didn't receive any information about the audition, so we walked in there not really knowing what to expect.  Turns out, Noah was supposed to have had a short song prepared.  The teacher told him that he could just sing Twinkle, Twinkle or Happy Birthday.  He still didn't back out.  They did the auditions in groups of 10 kids at a time.  When it was his turn in his group to sing, that kid busted out 'Happy Birthday to you, you're a hundred and two, you look like a monkey and you smell like one, too'.  Everybody laughed...including me.  He sang quietly and a little monotone, but he sang.  In front of kids, teachers and parents.  He didn't back out.  He had an interesting song choice, but I was (and am) so proud of him.  And now, he's part of the elementary chorus!  He has had 2 rehearsals so far and says he's enjoying it.  He practices his songs every day.  First performance is November 20th!  We have a lot going on that day...

His Elmo told him that he should have us take him for ice cream after his audition, so we did.

Yesterday I took the boy to Fall Fest in Grandville.  It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed the activities.  The boys liked the game where they got to throw the football the best.  They played 3 or 4 times each.

Noah

Seth 

Noah

Noah

Seth

Pumpkin decorating is serious business.  Seth on the left, Noah on the right.

Noah wanted to turn his head and not just smile through the hole, so it would look like he was actually flying.

Many businesses created scarecrows for a contest.  We walked around, looked at scarecrows, tried to figure out how they made them and picked our favorites.

Seth

Noah with the scarecrow that they both voted for.

Noah, once again, taking cut out photography seriously.  He wanted to know which was was front so he could face the proper direction.  Seth was just trying to figure out what he was doing.

One last Noahism that demonstrates that there are perks to having an identical twin.  Earlier this week, I wanted to take the boys to look for new winter coats.  I needed them to go, so they could try them on.  Noah flat out did not want to go.  I tried to reason with him, but he simply said that just Seth could go because 'If it fits Seth, it fits me'.  He wasn't wrong.  Just Seth went and they both got new coats that fit.

-Shelby